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Sen. Dick Black calls Loudoun teacher ‘appalling’ for defending Pulitzer Prize-winning book
Sen. Dick Black calls Loudoun teacher ‘appalling’ for defending Pulitzer Prize-winning book
Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
State Sen. Dick Black recently fired back at a Loudoun County Public School English teacher for defending a piece of literature that he calls “moral sewage.”
In February, Rock Ridge High School advanced placement literature and language teacher Jessica Berg sent a letter to all Virginia state senators urging them not to pass HB 516, which would have allowed parents to opt their children out of reading books they felt were too explicit. Black (R-13th) responded with a lengthy email condemning the teacher for her stance. ... Berg’s letter warned the state senators against the dangers of censorship and defended Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Beloved," which she has taught in her own classes.
Senators who supported HB 516 read aloud violent passages of "Beloved" on the Senate floor to advocate for warning parents about explicit content before students start reading.
“Just reading ‘excerpts,’ as Sen. Carrico did, in no way shape or form gives you the right to pass judgment on a novel that won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and an author that won the Nobel Prize in Literature,” said Berg in her letter. ... As first reported by Gawker, Black responded with an email criticizing Berg for advocating for a book the New York Times deemed “the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years.”
Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
State Sen. Dick Black recently fired back at a Loudoun County Public School English teacher for defending a piece of literature that he calls “moral sewage.”
In February, Rock Ridge High School advanced placement literature and language teacher Jessica Berg sent a letter to all Virginia state senators urging them not to pass HB 516, which would have allowed parents to opt their children out of reading books they felt were too explicit. Black (R-13th) responded with a lengthy email condemning the teacher for her stance. ... Berg’s letter warned the state senators against the dangers of censorship and defended Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Beloved," which she has taught in her own classes.
Senators who supported HB 516 read aloud violent passages of "Beloved" on the Senate floor to advocate for warning parents about explicit content before students start reading.
“Just reading ‘excerpts,’ as Sen. Carrico did, in no way shape or form gives you the right to pass judgment on a novel that won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and an author that won the Nobel Prize in Literature,” said Berg in her letter. ... As first reported by Gawker, Black responded with an email criticizing Berg for advocating for a book the New York Times deemed “the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years.”
I'm not linking to Gawker.
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
